The Iron Fearrow
by Wouter Jaegers
Summary: Professor Oak Has decided to send Tracey to the Orange Islands to set up a second research lab to study how Pokémon coming from a mild climat like Pallet town ajust to Tropical temperatures. Tracey's assistant will be a grandchild of Prof Oak. But Team R


****

IRON FEARROW

A Pokémon fan fiction story by Wouter Jaegers

"Okay, fuel injection?" 

"Normal."

"Oil?"

"Normal."

"Cooling liquid?"

"Normal."

"Okay then, ignition, contact!"

And with a loud throaty roar the Rolls Royce Merlin engine sprung to life with just as much ferocity as it had done at leaving the factory all those years back. 

"Engine one is working perfectly boss." The maintenance boy shouted from under the cockpit, the noise of the engine barely making him heard at all. "Start engine two!"

A few plops and the second engine followed the example of its stable mate. Much like an Ursaring after its winter rest the sixty-year-old aircraft came to life. William Collins smiled as he saw this bird which was aching to soar the sky again stretch its muscles again after so many years of being cared for by its loving owner.

William Collins loved vintage aircraft, he spend all his time working with or around them. Collecting model scale aircraft and books had been his prime occupation since childhood, and all this time he dreamt of flying those famous names, the Spitfire, the Hurricane, the Hellcat, the Corsair. William was bound to be a pilot that much was clear.

But when he actually joined the air force he found nothing but disappointment, piston engine aircraft's were rapidly being replaced by jet propelled aircraft. Instead he flew aircraft which later in their own right would become legends, the Hunter, the Saber and the Phantom. Even though these were a blast to fly and Collins had to admit he loved flying them, they never had the kind of mystique that the propeller driven airplanes had. 

After resigning from the airforce, Collins decided instead of resting on his laurels, he would go out and search for a vintage airplane he could restore and fly someday. Knowing at how many theatres the war had been played he turned his vision south. The airfields in the orange islands were abandoned after the war ended and most planes were left behind, it would be only a matter of scouting the many islands until finding what he was looking for.

Twelve years of working and funding his dream later, he finally found what he had been looking for. Tangerine Island proved to be the only island that still had an intact airfield dating from the war. Collins was overjoyed when he arrived. His dream bound to be fulfilled. 

When arriving there, Collins' expectations weren't in vain, even though wear and tear of years of neglect had taken their toll from most of the aircraft and the airfield itself. Collins decided to hook up with local authorities to start up a preservation program and turn the airfield in a museum. In effect, the airfield and its aircraft would become Collins' toys to play with, while making the Island better at the same time. Most of the airplanes however were bound to be static display units only, a sad thing, they were born to fly but their state grounded them permanently. 

But not all of the planes would stay put. Collins remembered the joy of finding out that this beauty would be only of its kind to be once again being airborne. It was an Avro York, the transport version of the Lancaster bomber.

And here it was, like a Charizard making a mighty roar come from it's four Merlin engines and letting it be known that it was ready to fly. William Collins petted its metal fuselage and smiled.  
  
"Soon, my friend, soon." 

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are nearing Valencia Island, please put out your cigarettes, fasten your seatbelts and remain in your seats. On behalf of all the crew of Hoot-hoot Airways, I wish you all a pleasant stay on Valencia Island."

As Tracey Scetchit walked from the hallway of this oh-so familiar airport he inhaled the sub-tropical air. Home, after so much time who would have thought that he would be back on the island on which he was born? 

But this was no vacation, he was send here with an assignment. Professor Oak was about to open a second research laboratory which would study how sub-tropical pokémon differ from their counterparts in milder parts of the world. Tracey was overjoyed when he learned that he would be leading it. Becoming "Professor Scetchit" was becoming a reality. Oak had told him that a grandchild would meet Tracey and take him to the site where the facility would arise.

The new Laboratry would be house in an old mansion at Tangerine Island. Tracey had been briefed about its location and where to meet this grandchild of the Professor. It wouldn't surprise Tracey if that Grandchild would turn out to be Gary.

Tracey wiped the sweat from his forehead and made his way to the bus stop, he clearly wasn't used to the climate anymore. Oh well he had all the time to adjust to it again. First stop, the house of his parents.

"Lina Scetchit speaking." Came the voice from his mother over the cell phone.

"Hi Mom, it's Tracey I just wanted to let you know that I arrived safely." Tracey replied.

"We are glad to hear that my dear." Tracey's mom replied. "Your guide has also arrived, he send a mail onto where the meeting point is. But first you'd better get over here quick mister."

"Oh why?" Tracey smiled, he knew his mother well enough. She wanted to give him a big bear hug because she missed him so much.

"Because I want to hug you while I still can, I missed you so much." Came the reply.

"I knew it, don't worry mom, I'll be right over." Tracey laughed as he watched the buss pulled in. "Mom said 'he' when addressing the subject of my guide, so it must either be a brother or cousin of Gary or Gary himself." Tracey muttered.

But he knew that it wouldn't be likely that it would be Gary himself since he was occupied with his participation in the Johto League and wouldn't want to take a brake from that for anything in the world. This made him very similar to Ash.

Tracey always was all ears whenever Professor Oak talked about his children and grandchildren, in a way that subject was more informative than pokémon studies and given the fact that those studies took up most of the day, that wasn't really surprising. Oak had two sons Garland Oak and Michael Oak. Garland being the father of Gary. Gary's full name being Garland Samuel Oak Jr. Tracey snickered, with such an ornate name it was hardly surprising that he had an attitude to match.

"The guide could also be Gary's uncle, Michael." Tracey muttered. "He lives nearby Professor Ivy's lab. At least that's the most likely candidate from the male Oak camp." Tracey's thoughts soldiered on while the bus rode off in the distance.

"Hi Ash, how are you?" Professor Oak inquired when answering the videophone. "How's your progress in the league?"  
  
"I'm doing very well Professor." Came the reply. "But the reason why I'm calling is for something completely different. Could you please let Tracey on, we came across someone who wants to speak to him."  
  
"Oh and who would that be?" The Professor asked when the face from Ash disappeared and made place for the face of Pokémon photographer Todd.

"Well that'll be me Professor, glad to speak to you again." Todd Replied. "I have read about Tracey Scetchit's work and I'd like to speak to the man himself."

"Oh but that's too bad, Tracey is no longer here." The Professor spoke. "I have send him on a very important mission."

"What kind of a mission Professor?" Misty spoke while appearing into view.  


"I'll be opening a second lab in the orange Islands to expand my research into how Pokémon develop in a sub-tropical climate so we can compare the statistics with their counterparts who live in Milder area's like Pallet." Professor Oak replied. "Tracey will be leading that lab with a grandchild of mine."

"Awesome, so Tracey will be leading a laboratory himself." Ash smiled. "Just Imagine, Professor Scetchit."

"That might even be closer than you think Ash, if he succeeds in making the studies a success he might get his doctorate, making him a professor. But for now it's just in the works." Professor Oak replied soberly.

"Well wish Tracey all the luck from us Professor, we'll talk again later." Todd smiled.  
  
"Okay then, good luck to yourselves." The professor smiled. But then something happened. "What the…"  


"Muk, muk, muuuuuuk!"  


"No Muk, stop it, how many times do I need to tell you that you can't do that…"

"Well it's good to know that my Muk is really doing well." Ash laughed while hanging up the phone. "Now where shall we go next?"

"According to the chart, the next city we'll encounter is Paprika Plains, there isn't a gym but we will be in time for the annual Pokémon fair." Brock replied while the four of them made their way towards the city.  


"Did you hear that?" Came a voice from behind the bush where the videophone was located.

"A new lab in the making, full of pokémon destined to be Team Rocket's property." Another voice replied.

"Now dat's truly helpful infahmation, don't da two of you agree?" A third voice joined in. "Yous two know what step to take next, don' yah?" Team Rocket emerged from the bushes and looked at the videophone. 

"It's not really what we are assigned to do but this is too good to leave unstirred." James smiled while shoving a coin into the slot and handing Jessie the horn.  


"When the boss hears about this, he'll probably promote us." Jessie smiled while dialing the number.

"Hi there, I am May Oak." A soothing voice came from the person addressing Tracey. "You must be Tracey Scetchit, pleased to meet you." 

"Err… yeah, I'm sorry but I'm kinda confused here, my mother said 'He' when mentioning your letter." Tracey replied shaking, of all people in Professor Oak's family he didn't expect his guide to be Professor Oak's Granddaughter. But he had to admit that he would learn to live with that, what a babe.

"Oh, I understand. I wrote the letter using a type writer and closed it with 'M. Oak', maybe that's what caused the confusion." May let out a small giggle while shaking Tracey's hand. "Anyway, let's get down to business. We'll take the helicopter to Tangerine Island and start the preparations on the site where the Laboratory will be situated."

"Right, I already have set out some plans." Tracey spoke up. Adrenaline filling his veins, finally it was really going to happen. "We have to get some people to help us with the set up, I already made some inquiries and the local scouting should provide us with people who are willing to help us installing the new equipment."

"Good, I begin to see why my grandfather is so fond of you." May smiled, causing Tracey to blush. "I have done some preparations myself, a hangar at the airfield will be a temporary storage room for the pokéballs when we are sending them over from grandpa's lab."

"I hear from how you talk why he has put you on this assignment too." Tracey smiled "He also told me that you used to baby sit Ash, is that true?"

"Oh yes, he used to have a big crush on me." May began while the two of them made their way to the airport.

"Okay, fuel injection?" 

"Normal."

"Oil?"

"Normal."

"Cooling liquid?"

"Normal."

"And how's your wife?" 

"Normal. … Ha-ha, very funny."

"Come on Bill, lighten up, you have been covered in motor oil as long as I know you." Collins' partner in crime Jack Haig laughed. "When those kids arrive at least look a little more cheerful."

"Yeah, you're right." Collins sighed. "It is rather rewarding to know that our airfield will play a key role in that Pokémon research laboratory they are setting up."

"And the two who will lead the laboratory are two professionals, the granddaughter of the famous Professor Oak and his assistant." "Jack spoke while bringing out some pictures. "With the both of them involved it's easy to see how serious this research will be."

"They do look like Pro's no doubt." Collins spoke while eyeing the pictures of Tracey and May. "Those kids certainly pack a wallop these days, when I was young I aspired to do great things and those kids don't just aspire, they actually do it too."

"Yep, that sure is a thing to admire." Jack agreed. "In a few minutes you'll get to meet them."

But watching from a nearby bush, looking through two pairs of binoculars were two uninvited guests whose aspirations lie in a very different kind of thing involving pokémon.

"I guess that the members of the scourge of Team Rocket do have their good days." A girl with long black hair and wearing the uniform of an under officer Team Rocket spoke. "Who would have thought that those two mishaps would provide us with this kind of helpful information?" 

"Hey, don't badmouth them too much." A boy with blonde hair wearing similar attire replied. "They will provide us with just the right opportunity to get some promotion."

"Well yeah, we have to give Jessie and James credit for that." The girl smiled. "I'll be glad when I can trade my sergeant stripes in for Lieutenant stripes."

"It makes you wonder how Jessie and James ever made it to the rank of Captain…" The boy wondered out loud. "If we succeed this mission they will be promoted too for providing this vital information."

"So maybe we should blow this whole thing off, to spare us that kind of thing?" The girl snickered. "Or should we go ahead and do this so that we get promoted and they get promoted as a sort of 'Thank you' from the boss."

"Like I said before, you'd have to give Jessie and James some credit. Heads down, here comes the chopper."

The helicopter carrying Tracey and May made it's approach while the two junior members of Team Rocket hid in the bushes, carefully tuning up their listening devices to hear whatever was said after the landing.

"Good afternoon, I am William Collins, curator of Tangerine Airfield annex museum. How do you do?" Collins spoke to Tracey and may after the two of them set foot on land.

"Tracey Scetchit, Pleased to meet you. I'll be the one leading the research." Tracey spoke while shaking Collins' hand. "So this museum will be our temporary storage facility."

"We couldn't have asked for one with more style." May spoke while looking around. "This war time airfield has a certain nostalgic aura."

"Why thank you lady." Collins smiled "It sure has taken a lot of time to make it that way. Now without further ado, let me show you where your pokéballs will be stored." Collins then proceeded to show them around. Blissfully unaware of the extra strong spying device that was picking up every word he spoke.

"Ah-ha! Quick, jot down the location of the hangar they are heading for." The boy spoke to the girl while taking off his headphones. "This is crucial for the eventual theft we have to make if our cover will be blown too soon."

"Whether our cover will be blown too soon or too late depends solely on us." The girl replied while tracking the four people on the airfield. "Luckily Scetchit's skills as a pokémon trainer are intermediate and Oak owns pokémon just as pets, she doesn't even know one Pokémon attack."

"Yes, that's what our database says." The boy frowned. "But we have to keep in mind that both of them have a lot more in their package than our organization knows of."

"Either way, this will be a long term operation if we first have to win Scetchit's and Oak's confidence first." The girl spoke while packing up her stuff.

"At least we have taken the right steps in achieving that first goal." The boy smiled while putting on a green scouting cap. "After all, who would suspect two scouts?"

"…And here it is." May spoke when the taxi dropped them off at the mansion that eventually would become the laboratory on which the studies would be taken out. "My grandfather bought it as a summer vacation house but since he seldom had the time to actually go on vacation it hasn't been used much."

"No kidding." Tracey coughed while removing the dust and the cobwebs from the front door. "If the rest of the mansion is in similar state as this door, it will take us quite a while to make it habitable again."

"This Mansion is in perfect state, it just looks worse for the wear." May spoke with a smile while making her way through the hallway. "Trust me on this one Tracey, in the vacations we did have here, all it took was some cleaning and presto, all was like it should be."

"Well then, let's fire up this baby and see how she runs." Tracey spoke while making his way to the switchboard and switching on the main power. Almost immediately the generator started to hum and one by one, the lights came on. "Well what do you know? It actually worked."

"This mansion has so many good memories for me that it will be a breeze to work in here." May sighed "I hope that at the end of this experiment you'll harbor good memories of it too."

"I certainly will have good memories of it because of working with you." Tracey thought to himself. "Boy, you are so pretty…" 

"Let's put the plan together on what needs to be done to make the surrounding countryside both inhabitable for the pokémon and suitable for our research." May spoke while pulling the sheet of one of the tables and laying out a map. "This is an aerial view of the mansion and the countryside surrounding it."

"H'mm… I guess that one of the first things we need to do is construct a bridge over this river." Tracey observed. "The river itself is wonderful for all the water types but without a bridge we can't abduct a thorough research."

"I guess that the expertise of the scouts will be essential in constructing a bridge using natural materials, we can use the old playground slide and swings for materials." May murmured softly while pointing out the playground on the map. "It was build for me and Gary so we could play there but since we both are a bit long in the tooth to enjoy those things anymore."

"Yeah, life goes on… " Tracey snickered. "We further have to check out which trees can be lumbered, with such a large forest, there must be some trees that aren't in such a good shape any more. My pokémon can help us pointing those out and we can use those too."

"The more we can use from what already have here, the better." May spoke. "Setting up this lab is expensive enough, every penny saved is a welcome one." 

"Let's spare us some money then and prepare some food and ready the bedrooms, so we don't have to stay in a hotel." Tracey spoke while picking up his bag. "You have to show me around though, I don't know my way around here."

"The two of them seem to preparing themselves for the night." A voice spoke from the bushes. "We should follow their example and head back to the scouting camp before they suspect something."

"Right. We'll meet Scetchit and Oak in person tomorrow anyway." The girl replied to her partner while the two of them hid their Team Rocket uniforms underneath scouting uniforms. "To think that they themselves will show us around and show us the key places we have to focus on if we want this operation to succeed successfully.

"The boss did good to hire us, our expertise as scouts and the fact that everybody knows us as such will never arouse any suspicion." The boy laughed while the two of them walked off. The two of them had to hit the sack and sleep well because tomorrow would be a day of work.

"Good morning, you must be the scouts that come to help us in making a workable laboratory, aren't you?" Tracey greeted the camp leader and seven scouts, four girls and three boys, who came walking up.

"Camp leader Kevin Thompson and these are: Clive, Paul, George, Natasha, Jane, Monica and Esther. Reporting for duty." Camp leader Thompson spoke up while shaking Tracey's hand.

"Tracey Scetchit, head of the operations, pleased to meet you all. Come inside." Tracey replied. "There's a lot to do and the sooner we get started the better."

"Our thoughts exactly." Natasha whispered to Clive.

"Okay, fuel injection?" 

"Normal."

"Oil?"

"Normal."

"Cooling liquid?"

"Normal."

"Okay then, ignition, contact!"

And once again the Merlin engines came to life and putting their 15000 horsepower into spinning the four mighty three bladed propellers. Collins was beyond excitement, today would be the first test run of the plane. Just strolling up and down the runway, a big step in preparing the York for it's maiden flight. After getting the thumbs up from the crew, Collins shifted the propeller pitch two notches and slowly the plane began to move.

Haig's Photo camera immortalized the whole scene as the shining silver fuselage made it's way from the hangar. In navy blue letters came the registration GY-ORK with the official flag of Tangerine Island proudly displayed above it. Haig waved at Collins and the copilot before giving thumbs up. All was ready to go.

With a loud roar the four engines came up to speed and the aircraft gained speed. Collins' hands automatically pulled the stick backwards but kept himself from doing so at the last moment. Should he dare, should he dare to pull the stick and take off?

At the end of the Runway, Collins decided to throw the dice. He turned the plane, pushed the throttle on full power, pulled the stick backwards and…

"Bill, engine four!" His copilot shouted making Collins push the stick forwards again and looking to his left. The engine was on fire.   


"Quick ready the extinguisher." Collins shouted while shutting off the fuel supply to the burning engine and calmly making the plane slow down. As the internal extinguisher put out the flames Collins sighed and wiped his forehead, not really sure if he should be relieved that all went well or to be disappointed because he hadn't had the chance to take his bird to the skies.

"Bill are you okay?" Haig shouted while he and crew ran over. "You really scared us to death there."

"Luckily all went well Jack." Collins replied while petting the fuselage. "But I guess that this means that we have to spend some more time to make her ready to fly. I'm so sorry."

Yes, the flight had been delayed and who knows for how long? Collins looked at the engine, it would take him weeks to fix it up again but it could have been worse, imagine it catching fire within flight, or worse exploding and taking the wing with it. This unlucky happening sure kept his flying beauty from even worse disaster.

"These poles sure are usable, Mr. Scetchit." Camp leader Thompson spoke after examining the wood that came from the playground's swing sets and climb racks. "The wood is thoroughly impregnated and should provide a good bases for the bridge, since the water won't rot them as easily."

"There are some boats we can use to position them in the river." Tracey said while pointing at a few dinghies at the edge of the lake. "I'm sure that this will take at least a week if we work fast. By the time we have finished it, the first pokémon will arrive."

"Mr. Thompson, Mr. Scetchit. We have just been examining the woods and found seventeen trees suitable for lumbering." Clive spoke up while he and Paul came walking up. "Paul's Smeargal has given each one of them a Red Cross so we know which ones to cut."

"Okay then, we'll need pokémon who know the cut attack." Tracey replied. "Do any of you have a pokémon who has that attack?"

"My Pinsir may be of help here." Natasha spoke while making the beetle pokémon appear. 

"And my own Scyther can help too." Tracey said while grabbing that particular pokéball. "We further need pokémon who can use the vine whip attack, we need them to keep the tree upright while we cut it in manageable logs, that way we won't damage surrounding trees when bringing one down."

"I think my Venusaur will be suited for that job." A voice spoke up. Everybody looked in the direction of the originator of the voice that turned out to be May. "Although I was never a serious pokémon trainer, I always kept my first pokémon which at the time was a Bulbasaur."

"You're right, a Venusaur can not only hold the tree in place but it can also carry the logs." Thompson smiled. "Brilliant thinking Ms. Oak."

"Well now that we have that in order, let's move." Tracey spoke. "Let's get this done before sunset. Are you all with me?"

"YES SAH!" The scouts replied before making their way into the forest. But at the very end of the line, the unexpected information gotten from May was carefully documented in a "Pocket Rocket" database.

"May Oak, age: 21, pokémon: Venusaur." Natasha smiled evilly while jotting it down. Knowledge was the key to success and all the information that simply was handed to her and Clive would ensure direct success.

"It's just the first day and already it's like shooting pidgies in a barrel." Clive whispered while giving Natasha a knowing wink. "They never know what hit them."

"If we pull this off, we will probably be promoted to the rank of Captain rather than Lieutenant." Nasaha giggled. "And Scetchit and Oak will all bring it onto themselves which is the most beautiful irony of it all."

"It will sure make up for all we have been going through." Clive replied while looking dark at their camp leader. "I'd be happy to shove his head through the sound hole of his guitar, those stupid songs and his off key voice, drove me mad from the first day that we had him as Camp leader."

"Scouting itself is a fulfilling thing but the whole entourage is just degrading." Natasha agreed. "But I guess it was our resentment that made us stand out when the boss spotted us and gave us the opportunity to join Team Rocket." 

"But I guess that we have no choice but to keep humiliating ourselves until the day we can finalize the plan." Clive sighed after hearing the camp leader's request for a song. "Okay here we go again. JOHN, JACOB, JINGLEHEIMER SHMIDT, HIS NAME IS MY NAME TOO…" 

"Team rocket is blasting off again." Natasha grumbled.

"OWWH!" The unanimous cry reverberated through the woods after Jessie, James and Meowth came down after being blasted off yet another time.

"Me-ouch! Ah wonder why we even bothah, none and I mean absolutely none of our plans evah woik." Meowth grumbled while stretching his spine.

"Just be patient Meowth, if Natasha and Clive succeed in their job, we'll be promoted and we can fetch a holiday." Jessie smiled while straightening her skirt and wiping her face clean.

****

POPS! "Woh-buh-fet!" 

"Yes Wobbufet, at least you share that optimistic view." 

"And after resting up we'll be as fit as a set of fiddles to fiddle our way past the twerps and capture Pikachu." James boasted.

"Ah yes, so let's stop fiddling around and play along to plan." Jessie spoke while hugging James. "If we can bow our strings the right way, we'll be fiddling our way to a tropical paradise."

"Just the thought sounds like music to me." James shouted before grabbing Jessie's hands.

"So, let's get out our instruments and play a different tune."

"So we will get promoted and lay baking on a sunny dune."

"To give the boss pokémon so he can toy."

"And doing the things we really enjoy."

"Jessie."  
"James"

"Team rocket is about to do what we promised ourselves one fine day."

"So let us dance to the tune of 'Moon light bay'. "

"Well tah me it just looks like yous two need a tune up." Meowth sighed while observing Jessie and James doing their dance.

"Unbelievable…" Clive softly spoke while observing Tracey doing field research in a colony of wild Ferralligaters. "This is something that our Database didn't say about him. Those crocodilians don't even notice him."

"You can say about him what you want but he's very serious when it comes to studying and observing pokémon." Natasha agreed while looking in awe at what was going on. "He's literary up to his neck in it."

"Very interesting…" Tracey thought to himself while slowly wading through the water and shooting pictures from the Gator pokémon surrounding him. The Ferralligaters looked at him curiously but as long as he moved slowly and kept a low profile, they wouldn't attack him.

"This is one guy who clearly knows pokémon better than any normal trainer Clive." Natasha whispered while adjusting her binoculars so she could look more closely. "His talent of getting between wild pokémon without disturbing them certainly is something we have to be careful around, if he knows pokémon body language so well than he must know human body language even better. If anybody would be able to unmask us it'll be him."

"Maybe we should call in some outside help if we want this operation to succeed successfully." Clive muttered. "We would need a transport mecha to accommodate all the pokéballs we are going to take with us. And I know who are the most experienced with robots and such."

"Jessie and James, you might be right about that but by involving them we will put the entire operation in jeopardy." Natasha sighed. "Whenever they get an assignment they mess it up."

"Maybe a change of scenery will be the boost they need." Clive spoke soberly while the tow of them made their way away from the site. "I'll contact the boss tonight."

"Amazing at how such a herd interact with one another." Tracey spoke when he made his way out of the water. "First up, a shower and then to put it all down in files." But then he noticed something. "Huh, what's this? Footprints; someone must've followed me but why?" 

"Okay, here's the plan." Camp leader Thompson spoke when the troop once again made their way to river a third day of hard work about to begin. "We'll use the vines of Venusaur to get Clive and Paul at the other side of the river so they can install the hooks that'll carry the wires used to lift up the platform."

"Venusaur, I choose you." May spoke while making the leaf pokémon appear. "Venusaur, use your vines to bring those boys to the other side of the river." The Venusaur obeyed and gentle carried Paul and Clive to the other side of the river. The dinghies were put to water and the platform was cautiously positioned between them. The girls in the dinghies applied the cables to the platform while Paul and Clive attached the outer ends of the cables to some very big and sturdy trees. 

"Mr Scetchit, we are ready." Natasha shouted from her dinghy. 

"Okay. Clive, Paul, you take guard at the outer end of the cable, if there's anything wrong let me know and we'll abort the wedging and be careful, those rocks are slippery." Tracey shouted to Paul and Clive at the other end of the river.

"Gotcha!" Clive replied "We are ready when you are!"

"Okay then Natasha, Jane, Monica hold the platform steady, Everybody ready?" After getting the affirmative answer Tracey started up the wedge and the bridge slowly raised itself over the river, the dinghies working hard to keep the platform in place. But suddenly Clive noticed that something was about to go completely wrong as the right cable started to come loose.

"TRACEY, THE CABLE IS COMING LOOSE, ABORT THE WEDGING!" Clive shouted, "I REPEAT ABORT THE WEDGING!"

Tracey shut off the engine but it was too late as with a loud noise, the cable came loose and the bridge splashed into the water again soaking the people in the dinghies. 

"Everybody alright?" Tracey shouted but then he saw Clive lying face down in the water. "CLIVE!" Tracey screamed while fetching one of his pokéballs. "SCYTHER GO!" The mantis pokémon appeared and flew towards the unconscious scout. Grabbing him with his powerful claws and gently flying him to shore. "Clive, say something." 

"How is he?" Natasha spoke in panic while making her way towards him. "Is he going to be okay?"

"It's okay, he's breathing." Tracey spoke soberly, "Let's take him to a hospital though to have him checked out just in case."

"Nothing serious, just some bruised ribs." Nurse Joy spoke to Clive after treating him. "You'd better take it easy for a while though."

"You are lucky that the cable wasn't at full tension when it came loose, it could have chopped you in half if it were." Tracey spoke. "Your warning came just in time."

"Still, thank you for saving me, I could have drowned." Clive stuttered. "I probably can never repay you."

"Don't mention it." Tracey shrugged "You would have done the same for me. Now I'll just leave you and Natasha alone here, I still have work to do. See you later."

"Man, that was a close one." Natasha spoke while hugging Clive. "I really would hate losing my partner."

"Oh yeah and then making the promotion yourself." Clive smiled wryly. "This operation will be even more difficult thanks to this."

"Come on, we only loose a couple of days." Natasha replied. "We have enough time to complete this, what's the problem?"

"Well…" Clive sighed, "The problem is, that my conscious is bugging me about betraying Scetchit after he has saved me."

"Better pull yourself together Clive." Natasha spoke strictly. "You know our motto; 'All is allowed in achieving our goal.' Sentimentalism is not allowed in Team Rocket."

"Sentimentalism, isn't allowed, eh?" Clive thought to himself while eyeing his partner. "If that's true, then did I imagine the sob in your voice when you spoke out these words?" 

"Okay, fuel injection?" 

"Normal."

"Oil?"

"Normal."

"Cooling liquid?"

"Normal."

"Okay then, ignition, contact!"

A few plops but the restored engine didn't spring to life. Collins sighed in frustration, what did he do wrong when restoring the engine? All that had been damaged by the fire had been replaced so what could be wrong?

"Excuse me are you the leader of this airfield?" A voice spoke up, Collins turned around and eyed two people; a young man and a young woman and a meowth.

"Why yes, I am. William Collins pleased to meet you. How can I help you?" Collins spoke while extending his hand, only to retrieve it again when seeing how dirty it was. "Oops, sorry I guess that the formalities have to wait until after I have washed my hands."

"James Focke and my partner Jessie Wulf, we are from the international association for the perseverance of vintage aircraft." The man spoke while flashing a badge. "We are here to monitor your progress on the York you are restoring."

"But more than that, we are here to help you." The woman joined in. "You see, we are also very skilled maintenance crew, we already knew of your engine troubles, so let's have a look at this."

"If you succeed in making this motor run again, I'll leave the rest of the restoration up to you." Collins sighed.

"Oh you will, won't you?" James smiled while taking his coat off and rolling up his sleeves. "Now that's an offer we won't refuse."

"Right, beddah leave dis baby tah us mistah, she'll be purring like a puddycat in no time." Meowth joined in.

"Well then I'll leave you to it, I'll be in the officers mess if you need me." Collins smiled while walking off, it made him feel good to see young people who were willing to help him preserve his bird for future generations to come.

"What a gullible fool." Jessie laughed while the three of them were working on the engine. "If only he knew what the true reason is why we are here."

"Da sheer abundance of spare parts will provide us with lots of materials for our new mecha." Meowth agreed. "Da only thang we have tah do is build it."

"This flying heap of rust only provides us with the ideal cover for our own project." James concluded. "Our new mecha will be the best invention since the best invention ever made: bread." 

"Luckily we happen to get our hands on this portable Pokéball transporter." Jessie boasted while retrieving a device from one of the suitcases. "All we have to do is just switch the pokéballs with empty ones and take the full ones with us."

"Okay, fuel injection?" 

"Normal."

"Oil?"

"Normal."

"Cooling liquid?"

"Normal."

"Okay then, ignition, contact!"

And the engine came to life without hesitation, after hearing the sound Collins came running out.

"Well I'll be a green dragonair…" He spoke in amazement when observing the running engine. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you." Jessie, James and meowth looked content at each other, the trust of that fool had been won over. 

"What's bothering you Tracey?" May asked when she saw Tracey walking around the room in a nervous pace.

"Something is not right May, I have been noticing some strange things going on around here." Tracey replied. "I have been shadowed during my research and although I haven't actually seen the persons who are tracking my every move, I have my suspicions."

"Maybe it's just the stress and the accident that have been bothering you." May spoke while laying her hands on Tracey's shoulders. "I have to admit something to you. At first I didn't exactly liked the idea of working with you; you seemed to be the kind of person that would have been very narrow-minded and boring but these past couple of months have changed my point of view."

"So if I'm not narrow-minded and boring, what do I am to you?" Tracey murmured softly while the adrenaline started to rush through his body unwillingly reacted by May's touch. Tracey braced himself for whatever was bound to come his way, knowing that she would notice this chemical reaction too.

"You are brave, compassionate, devoted and handsome." May spoke with a shy smile. Tracey shuddered when she slowly pulled him close. "And furthermore, right at this moment your lips are begging to be kissed."

"Damn human pheromones…" Tracey whispered while May's lips came ever closer. The kiss was soft and warm and it didn't take much persuasion for Tracey to give in and to get lost in this sensual bliss. The two lovers embraced for what appeared to be an eternity, never noticing the balloon, which was hovering over the estate of the lab and the scouting camp situated nearby. 

Slowly the Meowth balloon made it's way towards the camp, its three pilots carefully watching the sky looking out for the signal their junior team members would give them any minute now. 

"There." James spoke while pointing at the designated spot. "There's Natasha, prepare the ladder."

"Thanks for coming." Natasha greeted her elderly teammates after climbing on board. "Let's put our plan in motion." She then spoke soberly while rolling out the battle plan.

"Whew, what a night…" Tracey sighed while making his way from the bedroom he had shared with May. "Better get myself decent before the scouts arrive." 

"Camp leader Thompson and troop reporting for duty." Camp leader Thompson spoke after arriving at the lab. "As you can see, Clive has re-joined us."

"Yes and I am very happy about that." Tracey smiled. "You are just in time to witness the arrival of the first 100 or so pokémon that will inhabit this estate."

"I wouldn't have wanted to miss it for anything in the world." Clive replied while winking at Natasha who had to suppress her excitement. Tracey noticed that too, that wink, the girl's excitement, there was something going on here… 

"Over 100 pokémon, what a loot." Natasha whispered "Imagine the boss' reaction when he's faced with this…"

"And to think that that idiot Scetchit will be showing us where they will be stored when they are returned to their pokéballs." Clive snickered.

  
"Okay Tracey, standby, ready for the transport to begin?" Professor Oak spoke from the other side of the videophone. After getting the affirmative nod, the Professor pulled a switch and one by one the pokéballs appeared into the storage racks. "Here they come."

"The transport is going flawlessly." Tracey replied while monitoring the transport and arrival of the pokéballs on the screen of the transport machine. "All is going exactly to plan Professor." 

"It sure is." Natasha giggled.

"More than 100 pokémon, outrageous!" Jessie spoke when answering the videophone at the end of the day. "So, now that we know with what number of pokémon we have to deal, what's the plan?"

"We'll wait until the dusk has settled, Scetchit will return all of them to their pokéballs." Clive replied. "After we make sure that they are asleep, we'll initiate the transport of the balls to the transport mecha."

"Okay then, see you tonight." Jessie spoke before breaking off the connection. "James, Meowth, is the Transporter functioning?" Jessie continued while walking up to them but getting her feet caught up in a wire and tripping. "Whoa! Ooh!"

"Watch out, you might have damaged the transporter." James spoke while helping Jessie up. "Let's do some tests to see if everything still works."

"Vileplume, sleep powder." Natasha ordered while letting her Pokémon appear in the barrack of the girls. Putting them out of commission. "No hard feelings girls but we are better off without you."

"So this is it." Clive smiled sinisterly while walking towards the barrack he shared with George and Paul. "I'm sorry that I have to do this buddies but it is necessarily into successfully completing our mission. Jigglypuff, I choose you." 

****

POPS! "Jiggly?" The Jigglypuff asked while looking at its master.

"Jigglypuff, sing!" Clive ordered the little pokémon while putting on some ear caps. "Make them rest, they deserve it after being such a good help to us."

"Jiggly!" The Jigglypuff smiled while slipping in. "JIIIIIIIH-GULEEEEPUH-HUH-HUF, JIIH-GOLEEEE-HEE-HEEE-PUFF, JIIIH-GULEEEEEH-PUFF, JIIHGOLEEE…"

"That's enough Jigglypuff." Clive smiled while looking at his sleeping fellow scouts. "Now that they are taken care off it's time to put this plan in motion."

"Three dents in my hat, tells people that I'm a scouting lad. And if I wouldn't have had three dents in my hat, they wouldn't have known that I was a scouting lad." Camp leader Thompson sang off key while readying himself for the night. "I wonder what kept me from pursuing a singing career, talent must be displayed after all…" Thompson muttered while sitting down on his bed.

"Well on dat point Ah totally agree with ya." A voice spoke up, the next moment happened in a flash, two people a girl and a boy grabbed him and bound him to his bed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for trouble on how it's meant." The girl shouted while revealing her face. "Jessie"  


"So stay put while Team Rocket will show off their newest talent." The boy joined in while revealing his face. "James."

"Dey may be rookies but dey sure pack a wallop!" Meowth finished. "An' dat's da bottom line cuz Me-owth said so."

"What is going on here?" Camp leader Thompson asked while trying to understand all of what was going on. "You are from Team Rocket but how did you get in?"

"That's the best part, the young talents we just been talking about have been very close in your proximity." Jessie smiled.

"So without further ado, let's give these prodigies the recognition they deserve." James announced while turning Thompson's face into the direction of the door. 

"Prepare for trouble." A chillingly familiar voice of a girl spoke from the open door.

"And make that double." An evenly so familiar voice from a boy joined in.

"To prepare the world for a new sensation," The girl continued while walking in. Thompson looked at the uniform, a white scouting cap with a red capital R obscured her face but Thompson knew this girl. 

"To express our influence all across the nation," The boy spoke while joining his partner; once again the face was obscured but Thompson knew who the boy was.

"To expose the true faces of hate and love," The girl once again spoke up; Thompson began to sweat, who would've thought?

"To brand our logo on the moon above," The boy concluded while folding his arms.

"Natasha!" Natasha spoke while revealing her face.

"Clive!" Clive joined in.

"Team Rocket takes off into the shadows of the night." Natasha spoke while she and Clive formed a capital R pose.

"Give up without trying, you'll just loose the fight." Clive finished.

"So hold on tight!" All five team Rocket members shouted in choir.

"Natasha, Clive?" Camp leader Thompson spoke in disbelieve to what he was witnessing. "You are Team Rocket members?" 

"Oh you know how it is with the youth these days." Jessie smiled evilly. "Nothing but trouble."

"Aren't you proud that these two of your troop were talented enough to be on our team?" James joined in. "After all, not everybody can join Team Rocket." 

"When our boss recruited us, he looked for the most resentful scouts he could find." Clive spoke with an evil sneer. "He happened to stumble upon us." Clive then turned to Jessie and James. "You go ahead, me and Natasha have something to fix here."

"Take your time, the night is still young…" James smiled while he and Jessie walked out. "We'll meet up at the designated point."

"Gotcha, see you later." Natasha called after them. "Now where were we… Well dear Kevin, because of your skills as a camp leader I wanted you to give something on behalf of all the scouts." Natasha smiled while opening the guitar case and fetched out the guitar of camp leader Thompson. 

"Careful with that. It's a vintage Fender Villager, it cost me a fortune." Thompson spoke fearfully when Natasha played a chord.

"Ooh, so it was expensive, well to us it was a waste of money." Natasha said in a sing-song voice while strumming some more chords "Oh yes, those many nights that you kept us awake with this torture device and with your songs summoning to Satan, we will never forget them."

"Say Kevin, when you bought this guitar, did they ever show you how to tune it?" Clive snickered while looking darkly at Thompson. "Still we have to thank you though, your sorry excuse for leader ship made us stand out when the Team Rocket boss was searching for new members."

"So on behalf of all scouts…" Natasha spoke while handing the guitar to Clive. "We give you this, from the bottom of our hearts, Clive you may do the honors."

"With pleasure…" Clive growled while grabbing the guitar by the neck, heaving it upwards and hitting Thompson with it. "A vintage guitar Kevin?" Clive asked when seeing that the guitar survived the blow without even a scratch. "Hah, they don't make them like they used to, a new one would have been splintered after such a blow." 

"That's the influence of the success from bands like The Who." Natasha laughed. "Because they used to smash guitars at their shows, the guitar companies made them tougher less easy to break."

"You're probably right, I guess it takes more than one blow to put this one out of its misery." Clive then continued to smash the guitar on Thompson's head until it lay in splinters at his feet.

"Okay, now that that has been settled we have to call it a day." Natasha spoke sweetly "We have more work to do, you know."

"Don't worry though, we'll be back." Clive laughed while he and Natasha made their way from the camp leader hut "Don't go anywhere."

"The most important thing to know is where the security systems are the weakest." Clive spoke soberly while walking to the main gate. "Scetchit has programmed this device only to work to a very specific code." Clive then fetched a pair of small pliers from his backpack and opened the box of the security system. "What he didn't know is that it's fairly easy to override this system."

"Because we had free access to all the blueprints we discovered that if you cut one wire, you can short-circuit the system without disrupting the actual alarm system." Natasha added. "In other words, the system appears to be fully functional, so nobody would suspect any tampering."

"Okay then, let's hurry up." Clive spoke while he and Natasha made their way in and went straight to the storage room. 

"Okay then, starting up the transport program." Natasha spoke while taking place behind the keyboard of the transporter. "Jessie, James, are you online?"

"Ten four, Natasha ready for delivery." Came the reply from the videophone. "We had some minor difficulties with the transporter but everything works just fine."

"Okay then, start the transport." Natasha spoke while putting the transporter in its "receive and send" mode.

"All is going smoothly." James replied. "We are sending and receiving pokéballs"

"Excellent, we'll see you in a few minutes, we still have some business to handle." Clive responded. And all of a sudden the lights came on.

"And just what are you doing?" Tracey spoke while he and May made their way into the storage room. "I knew from the start that you couldn't be trusted."

"Fortunately, you found out a little too late!" Natasha spoke while tossing a Pokéball. "Vileplume, sleep powder attack!"

****

POPS! "VIIIIIILLLLE- PLUUUUUUM!"

"Quick Clive hold your breath and run out!" Natasha shouted while retrieving her pokémon and covering her face. The Sleep powder had its desired effect, May and Tracey collapsed. 

"Mustn't fall asleep, must stay awake!" Tracey spoke while fighting to remain conscious. "Mustn't let them get away!" With all his strength Tracey grabbed a pokéball.

****

POPS! "Marrill, marill!" Tracey's Marrill appeared.

"Marill… water gun… spray me wet…" Tracey managed to bring out. Marrill obeyed and sprayed cold water into Tracey's face awakening him fully. "Thank you, Marill, now let's hurry!"

"123, 124, 125. Dat's all of them." Meowth spoke after receiving the very last pokéball. "We should have thought of calling in outside help earlier."

"Yes what a success." James agreed. "I'm so excited now that we finally pulled of something successfully." James then started the engines of the Jigglypuff mecha filled with all the stolen pokéballs and rode it to the runway.

"There they are!" Jessie shouted when seeing Natasha and Clive running up. "And that twerp with the bandana is in hot pursuit."

"Leave it to me Jessie!" James smiled. "Jigglypuff-daddy, gumball attack!" The mecha turned towards Tracey and a sticky substance came shooting out of its mouth hitting Tracey and putting him out of commission. "Stick around twerp, you're going to witness Team Rocket's biggest raid first hand."

"Damn it!" tarcey shouted when seeing how Clive and Natasha made their way on board. 

The engines of the giant Jigglypuff mecha roared at full power, the balloon expanded and the fully loaded robot pokémon became airborne. 

"We did it!" Clive shouted while doing a high-five with James. "Hey Tracey, I guess that doctorate will have to wait for another lifetime!" Clive shouted at Tracey who stood absolutely powerless at the end of the runway.

"Ah almost forgot how sweet da taste of victory is." Meowth cried tears of happiness. "Dis calls fah celebration don't you all agree?"

"We sure do Meowth!" All four human Team Rocket members replied.

"Mr. Scetchit, what's going on?" Collins shouted while he and Haig came running up. "We were awakened by the sound of aircraft engines."

"Team Rocket just managed to steal the entire inventory of my lab, that's what's going on." Tracey spoke in despair. "Quick we need an aircraft to follow them."

"We'd be glad to help but we don't have an airworthy plane here." Haig began but was cut off by Tracey.

"What are you talking about, what's that then?" Tracey shouted while pointing at the York. "I have seen your taxiing tests, this plane is airworthy!"

"He's right, Jack." Collins spoke. "If there's a time for this bird to fly, it'll be now."

"Okay, fuel injection?" 

"Normal."

"Oil?"

"Normal."

"Cooling liquid?"

"Normal."

"Okay then, ignition, contact!"

The four Merlin engines roared like a whole herd of Charizard. Their exhaust flames reflecting in the shining metal of the fuselage and the engine mounts. Collins 's brain was working feverishly as he double checked everything again and steered the plane onto the beginning of the runway.

No time for second thoughts, Collins lowered the flaps and gave full throttle, the engines giving their full and staying stable; the airplane began to roll and took off. Collins regretted that he couldn't enjoy the fulfillment of his work. Celebration had to wait: duty was calling.

"Uh-oh, I guess we have got some company." Natasha called out to her teammates. "That junkheap actually flies!"

"We should have disabled it." James spoke while grabbing a pokéball. "But don't worry, this will be a piece of cake to handle. Weezing, I choose you!"

"Incoming!" Haig shouted when James' pokémon appeared. 

"Weezing, sludge attack!" James shouted. Weezing obeyed and spewed out a big chunk of sludge that covered the cockpit windows of the York. "There, now they are forced to land unless they want to crash their treasured plane and die along with it."

"Damn it! We can't see a thing!" Collins shouted while the windshield wipers did a relatively unsuccessful job of wiping off the sludge. "Scetchit, I'm sorry but now we have no choice but to land."

"I understand, turn around and land this plane." Tracey sighed; he had failed, failed big time. How could he face May?

"Tracey, you'd never know what happened." Came May's excited voice when he phoned her up. 

"Excellent job. I am very proud of the both of you." Giovanni spoke to Natasha and Clive who were boasting in their brand new White Rocket uniforms. "This Promotion is well deserved and I gladly gave it to you."

"This was a hard operation to perform boss but our preparations ensured success." Natasha replied shyly

"And truth to be told, we couldn't have done it without Jessie and James who supplied us with valuable information." Clive joined in while glancing to his elderly officers wearing Black uniforms.

"Yes, Jessie and James. The both of you showed your true strength here, your promotion to the rank of Major was a hard earned one." Giovanni's voice betrayed a sigh of relieve, now that they had redeemed themselves he could send them away for a while and work on some urgent plans.

"It's our pleasure boss, we had a lot of making up to do and we owed you a lot." Jessie smiled "Consider this our payment for making up for all we did wrong."

"Meowth send you his regards. He's busy with …planning our next scheme." James joined in. If only Giovanni knew what Meowth was actually doing. Come on, over 100 pokémon, who would notice if they took some of them and kept them for themselves." 

"Heh-heh-heh, well where shall we begin?" Meowth snickered while making his way into the storage room where the stolen pokéballs had been brought. "If Ah'm right, den da pokéballs will be counted and checked tomorra. So dat will give me-owth enough time tah sort out da best of dem." Quietly Meowth grabbed a pokéball and opened it.

"Empty. Rotten luck, dere might be some empty ones between dem and Ah happen to pick one."

Yes, why bother for an empty one when there more than 100 others? Meowth tried another and another and another and another which were all empty. Suddenly Meowth realized something very disturbing.

"Uh-oh, if dis means what Ah think it means den we're in fah very big trouble." Meowth quietly left the storage room and headed for his partners. "Ah'd beddah tell dem quickly so we have da time tah get away before dis leaks out."

Somehow, the pile of empty pokéballs and the pile of full ones had been switched; actions were have to be made fast to save himself and his two partners. 

"The transporter, it must have malfunctioned when we tipped it over. It somehow looped the pokéballs and instead of getting the full ones we go out own empty ones back." Jessie spoke softly while she, James and Meowth quietly made their way out. "I guess this unfortunate turn of events shows that we weren't prepared for that kind of trouble…"

"We know how events can turn out so we'd better get out of here on the double." James agreed.

"To protect our higher ranks from degradation."

"To be away on a quick vacation."

"To quickly gather all we got from the boss."

"To make absolutely sure that he won't blame us."

"Jessie"

"James"

"Team Rocket takes the plane to Acapulco leaving this night."

"To save our butts from getting involved into what will be a horrific sight."

"Meowth, beddah hurry up or we'll miss da flight!" Meowth spoke while the three of them made a run for it. 

"Well done Tracey, you have earned your doctorate and I will gladly to give you the title of Professor." Professor Oak spoke while handing Tracey the certificate at the party held at Tangarine Island Pokémon laboratory in his celebration. It had been two months after the raid and the lab was running at full speed providing crucial information about how much sub-tropical pokémon differ from their counterparts in milder parts of the world.

"Congratulations Tracey." Ash spoke while coming up to greet him. "You really came through here."

"Yeah, my lifelong dream fulfilled." Tracey smiled. "And I owe it to you Ash, if I hadn't met you and Misty, I never would have had the chance to even meet Professor Oak in the first place."

"Oh yeah?" Ash blushed; who would have thought that he would get the credit for making this entire thing happen? "Well, what can I say… …nothing at all actually."

"Now there's a first, the great Ash Ketchum is out of words." Misty smiled "But I can relate to that, what if Tracey hadn't met us in the first place, don't you agree Brock? …Brock?"

"Ooh, I was aware of the beauty of Professor Oak's research but not of the beauty of his granddaughter." Brock blabbered while grabbing May's hands. "Please tell me May, what would you think if you and I would take a long stroll across the beach and talk about things we could do, tell me what you eat I will cook it for you and…"

"Hi-ho silver, better hold your ponita's Brock." Misty sneered while dragging him away from May.

"Besides, you are already too late, she already has a boyfriend." Ash laughed, Brock's facial expression turned to amazement.

"What? How? When? And who?" 

"When May phoned us to invite us for the party she already told us." Misty clarified.

"Since you were too busy with Nurse Joy at the time you didn't hear it." Ash joined in "And if you are surprised at hearing this, you'll be even more surprised to hear who it is."

"Me." Tracey replied while he and May showed off identical engagement rings around their right index fingers. "May has convinced me of… …she convinced me of… well of everything actually… We just have engaged prior to the party."

"My parents will fly over in about two weeks and we hope to get married by then." May spoke while pulling Tracey close "I will gladly run this Lab as Tracey's wife rather than just his assistant."

"And I'm sure that wedding white will suit you better than a lab coat." Misty smiled. "Congratulations, May."

"Tracey, take good care of my former babysitter." Ash spoke with a mock anger. "If you don't I won't be held responsible for what I might do. Nah, I'm just kidding, congratulations."

"Why do others get all the babes?" Brock sighed in defeat while walking off.

"Is he going to be alright?" Tracey asked Ash while watching Brock walking away.

"Don't worry Tracey, me and Misty know Brock better than you do." Ash laughed. "He'll be fine as soon as he spots another cute girl."

"And then it'll be THIS girl who will protect the rest of the Female half of humanity from him." Misty Boasted. "Let's be honest, I save him from getting into a lot of trouble by doing so." 

"Besides, opportunity knocks but it doesn't beg. Brock will eventually find someone." Ash added. "The problem is that he tries too hard."

"It's not like you and me Ash." Tracey smiled. "We both already have found our women."

"What?" Ash and Misty spoke simultaneously and then faced each other. Ash was confused, should he look away, what would Misty do in his place? Misty looked at ash, should she pick up the usual act, shout and turn away or should she…? Ash's face began to turn red because Misty was blushing or was Misty's face turning red because Ash was blushing? Suddenly the both of them laughed out loud, the silliness getting to them. "Hand's up you're blushing." They spoke simultaneously.

"How sweet, it seems that the boy I babysat has found himself an older sister he needs in his life." May spoke giggling while snuggling on Tracey's shoulder.  


"If only you knew, I traveled with them for over six months." Tracey whispered. "Misty is more than just Ash's travelling companion. She admitted her love for him at that Lugia adventure I told you about."

Two days later Tracey waved his friends' goodbye, he would see them again in a few weeks at the wedding. Tracey eyed the York as she steadily climbed up to height and fly Ash, Misty and Brock back to Pallet Town. Collins first flight had been so successful that he was flying his plane almost non-stop. Tracey smiled content; this truly was the best time of his life.

But what happened to those two crooked scouts who turned out to be Team Rocket members? Tracey remembered talking to Campleader Thompson after the raid; Thompson was completely oblivious about the whereabouts of the two. Tracey shrugged, knowing Team Rocket they would eventually resurface.

"There they come, ready the trap." Natasha spoke from behind a bush at the landing strip of Pallet Airfield while observing the York as it touched down and taxied its way to the control tower. "Man what an outcry, publicly humiliated in front of everybody in Team Rocket."

"We didn't get the promotion but at least he didn't throw us off the team either." Clive agreed. "But if I ever get my hands on Jessie and James…"

"Come on, how on earth could they have known? " Natasha sighed. "I guess that they ran off as soon as it was known that those pokéballs were empty. Dumb luck."

"Hah, their cowardice saved their promotion from turning into degradation." Clive grumbled. "But now that I think about it, it was also the smartest thing for them to do and I still wonder how Scetchit could switch the good pokéballs with our fake ones."

"I guess we'll never know." Natasha spoke "But hey, let's be glad that the boss went easy on us."

"Yeah, how tough can stealing that pikachu from that Ketchum kid be?"

****

THE END

Dedicated in loving memory of my dear grandmother Vera Coomans Beaupain. Thank you for all your years of love and devotion and for being supportive for all I have done.


End file.
